Random Thoughts – Page 8

Steam Powered Machine Shop

This is fun… An entirely steam powered machine shop that is fully operational, from the boiler to a full set of machine tools. The shop is intended to show a shop as it would have looked in the 1920’s. It would be fun to use this shop to make something, but I will use an electrically powered lathe this evening.

Shattering the Silence

It has been over three months since the protest began. Three months of standoff with the protesters who would not see another telescope built on Mauna Kea.

Mauna Kea Observing — My 18″ telescope Deep violet set up under the stars at the MKVIS.

It has been my habit over the last eight years to spend a night under the stars, high on the mountain, each time the new Moon arrives. On the nights when there is no moonlight the sky is dark, truly dark. The stars shine undiminished, the universe is open to be explored. I have used binoculars, small telescopes, cameras, or simply my eyes.

It is with my handmade 18 inch telescope that I can truly gaze into the depths of space. This simple device of plywood and glass allows me to see galaxies millions of light years into the past. With this telescope I have seen hundreds of galaxies, giving me a glimpse of the indescribable vastness of space.

Often I would set up in the patio right at the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station. The first couple hours spent talking with visitors, showing them the wonders our universe has to offer. After the VIS closes the visitors depart, driven back to their hotels by the cold mountain air. I have a heavy winter jacket, ski-pants, a thermos of hot tea, everything I need to be comfortable under the night sky. I would have the rest of the night to myself, just me, the mountain and the stars.

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An Extra Second

Today will be 86,401 seconds long. That number may seem odd, particularly when you consider that most days are 86,400 seconds long. The difference is a result of the leap second being added to our clocks at the end of June 30, 2015 at 23:59:59.

Observatory Clocks — Two new GPS time servers installed in the Keck 2 computer room

The need for an extra second comes from the irregular rotation of our planet. Due to gravitational interaction with the Moon our planet is gradually slowing its rotation. Other shifts can also cause slight irregularities in the planetary rotational rate. In order to keep Coordinated Universal Time in phase with the Earth’s rotation it is necessary to insert an extra second every so often when the error becomes too large.

Since zero hours universal time occurs at 14:00 Hawaii Standard Time, this extra second will occur at 2pm in the afternoon for my readers in the islands. If you are watching a clock that can account for this leap second you will see this second appear. The clock can do a few things, it could simply stop for a second, holding at 23:59:59 for two seconds. The clock could also count the extra second, displaying 23:59:60.

Update: A small group of true nerds gathered in the Keck 2 computer room at 0hUT today and watched our timeserver do leap second. The display notably remained at 23:59:59 for two seconds.

Generally only high precision time servers and GPS receivers will contain software to correctly implement the leap second. Most clocks do not correct for leap seconds, it is just not that important that this feature be implemented perfectly in most devices.

Network connected clocks will simply adjust the time on the next opportunity. Connected clocks routinely synchronize with an online time standard. Your computer requests the correct time via NTP protocol from an internet time server once each day, this is the usual default configuration for a net connected computer unless you have changed it. Cell phones get their time from the network and may receive their extra second more quickly, maybe within a few moments of the leap.

The rest of the clocks in your life are usually more than a few seconds off in any case.

Last time this occurred in 2012 there were some troubling software crashes around the world. Airline departures were delayed and some major websites went down. There is some concern that similar occurrences may occur this time. As a result some experts have argued to do away with leap seconds and just let the error accumulate. The argument rages and we may see leap-seconds abolished, in the meantime this one will occur.

Now that you know about it, enjoy your extra second today. Remember to watch that clock at zero hours universal time and see what happens.

Mango!

It is that time again… Mango season.

The fruit are just starting and I was only able to find enough for one dehydrator load. Over the next week there will be more fruit reaching that perfect ripeness. The fruit do not last long, there is only a few days for any given fruit before it spoils. Fortunately not all the fruit ripen at once, each visit to the tree finding a few more ready.

With this sort of bounty the fruit must be used quickly. I will give some away, taking them into work. Much of the harvest will go into the dehydrator, saved for later with a little processing.

Actually we get a couple mango seasons in our back yard. The trees I have are a different variety than the huge tree that overhangs our yard from the neighbor’s. It is just showing small starts right now, it will be later in the summer before those fruit are ready.

Video Games Then and Now

For the first time in decades I have been playing a video game.

Growing up, we had a state of the art video game console in the house, an Atari 2600. This machine was impressive… For the late 1970’s. Specifications included color graphics, 160×192 pixel resolution, and monaural sound. My brother and I played for hours, eventually beating some of the joysticks to the point where they required replacement. I mastered Space Invaders, I could play through all of the levels, wrapping back to level 1 for as long as my stamina allowed.

Atari Tanks — Atari tanks game, circa 1978

One of the games bundled with the Atari was Combat, there were four games on the cartridge including a tank game. I look back on that first game, one of the first we played on that console, with a bit of nostalgia. Two tanks maneuvered around a simple obstacle course, with a point awarded for each shot that hit the opponent. The audio was similarly quite simple, a basic growling sound meant to sound like engines and a few sound effects for the shots.

In the intervening decades I have seldom played video games with any great intensity. There was an Apple II space adventure game called Elite that I did play for a while in the 1980’s, but little else.

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Another Hawai’i Island Wreck

I have a growing collection of wreck photographs, to which I added another this week. What is it about the local roads that causes this?

Waikoloa Road Wreck — A overturned car resulting from a single vehicle accident on Waikoloa Road 12Feb2015

Many of the wreck photos in my collection came from the old saddle road. That road was truly dangerous, I did not even photograph every wreck I encountered. Not so much anymore, the rebuilt road is much safer. there are still wrecks, just not nearly as often. It is usually tired or drunk drivers running through the guardrail at the end of the road. That has happened four times now.

The latest wreck on Waikoloa Road seems to have been a single vehicle affair, encountered while returning from work. Best guess is that the driver put a couple wheels on the gravel shoulder for some reason, from there they lost control and flipped the vehicle. There was gravel all over the road just above the accident site.

Aside from the old Saddle Road, island roads are just not that bad. In comparison to the winding country roads I grew up on these should be much safer. Yet the accident count seems much higher in proportion to the cars on the road. It is also not that unusual to witness some really bad driving.

Checking the data shows Hawaiʻi is not the worst state. The traffic fatality rate is right in the middle for the states, about 1.01 deaths per 100 million miles driven for 2013. Data for Hawaiʻi County would be interesting to compare, a different situation than the other islands with our more rural nature. Hawaii is noted to have the largest proportion of single vehicle wrecks in the same set of data.

This morning there is news of three more fatalities, a fiery crash down in Kona that closed the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway all morning. A reminder to be careful on the local roads.

Radio Shack Files for Bankruptcy

Like most electronic hobbyists, I have an odd relationship with Radio Shack. In our youth it was the one local place you could buy basic components… Resistors, connectors, wire and other parts could be found there, without waiting a week for an order from a mail order catalog. The selection was always pretty sparse, the quality was hit or miss, and the prices were too high. But, if you needed something quickly it was the place.

Radio Shack Waimea — The Radio Shack location in Waimea in the KTA center

I even worked in a store for a summer in high school, learning what it was like on the other side of the counter. An experience that left me wondering why anyone would want to work in retail sales.

Then for many years, through the 90’s and the early part of the 00’s Radio Shack neglected the hobbyist business, concentrating on cell phones and accessories. Recently they have returned to their roots, restoring the kits and components section of the store. This time with Arduinos and other more modern technology. It was a move that many in the electronics community greeted with some enthusiasm.

Still, in recent visits looking for a last minute component I have found the selection just too minimal to be truly useful.

Word that Radio Shack is filing for bankruptcy and closing 1,750 stores is no surprise. According to news report the corporation claims $1.2 billion in assets and $1.4 billion in liabilities.

Apparently our local store in Waimea is not slated for closure in this first round. The future of any particular store is far from certain. Sprint has agreed to purchase many of the closed stores, but details are far from complete. Certainly many of the stores occupy desirable locations and are ripe for acquisition.

What emerges from bankruptcy will be interesting to see. But my guess is that the Radio Shack that has long been a fixture in our lives is gone.

The Main Pressure Regulator

Raking leaves out from underneath the lanai I just happen to look up. The water line into the house is right there and can be seen through a opening I cut in the lattice to allow the main shutoff valve to be reached without crawling under the house. There are pretty little ferns growing on the water pressure regulator.

That is not good.

Household Water Pressure Rregulator — A leaking household pressure regulator… Another weekend repair required.

The regulator is weeping, a steady dripping from the bottom of the assembly. A closer look shows that the valve body is badly corroded. This is not something I want to mess with until I have replacement parts on-hand. It is likely to come apart when disturbed, leaving the house without water.

Thus a mid-week trip to HPM is made. No matter, a lunchtime trip is an excuse to stop in Big Island Brewhaus and try some of the new menu items, the burgers are great! I note that the cherry trees are also beginning to bloom nicely, all good for the Cherry Blossom Festival next week.

A new regulator, a water pressure gauge, a handful of copper fittings. I have the rest of the needed tools on-hand already… Torch, propane, pipe cutter, flux, solder and pipe compound. I make sure I have everything before I shut off the water. I also warn my wife that the house will be without water for a few hours.

The old regulator is in bad shape, but not that bad. Failure was not imminent, maybe in a few months, but not tomorrow. It was leaking quite a bit, a steady drip. Water shut off at the street and at the supply to the solar water heating system I can open the lines. A little struggle ensues before the old fittings yield and the old regulator can be removed.

Of course the new regulator is smaller, I can not just thread it into place. This is what the copper fittings are for… I cut away the old threaded fittings and measure some new pieces of pipe. While I am cutting and fitting copper I add a new valve above the regulator, a convenient way to drain the household system and a place to attach a pressure gauge when adjusting the new regulator.

Yes, I raked out the pile of old leaves caught in the corner before lighting up the propane torch. No need to burn the house down to do a little plumbing repair.

All done I open the valves and return water pressure to the house. The gauge reads just below 50psi… good, just what the manual stated for the setting from the factory. This is not, of course, satisfactory for Deb, not enough pressure! Adjusting upwards to 60psi and my wife is happier.

The job cost a bit over $100 in parts. All good, and vastly cheaper than calling out a plumber for an easy job. Never mind that Hawaii law requires a licensed plumber to do such a job. Another weekend repair completed. What would I be doing else-wise? Probably painting or cleaning the garage.

The 2014 DarkerView Review

In reading my friend Dean Ketelsen’s blog he reminded me that I have not yet assembled my usual year in review blog entry. Darker View is a blog, a web log of my life as blogs were originally invented.

As it is customary to use the new year’s holiday as a reason look back on the previous year I shall do just that. A chance to recall what adventures life has brought us, to remember the little victories, and hopefully not too many failures.

There were 434 blog entries for 2014 detailing a busy year. At least a few folks actually come by to read all of those posts, DarkerView had 69,694 view from 31,607 unique visitors. Looking through the top read posts of 2013 reveals some interesting points…

It is a surprise just how many of these articles were written before 2014, at least two of these articles are from the old Whitethorn House website, well over a decade old! The telescope making posts make up most of these older, well read articles. It is clear that folks are using DarkerView for reference, finding these old articles in the search engines. Hopefully they are still useful.

Removing the pre-2014 posts from the list dramatically shortens it…

I am not sure that this is good. Is my writing falling off? Or does my older work just have staying power that it continues to serve a use for readers. This will be interesting to watch as I start another year of blogging. DarkerView is here to stay.

Ornament Temptation

Rasalhague? Don’t even think about it…